“If Shane says he saw it, then he saw it,” Clark said, folding his arms and glaring down at Charles.
Charles sighed and gave him a slightly put upon look. Shea snorted, covering her mouth quickly to keep the rest of the laughter in. She had seen that look before when she was younger, but usually it had been aimed at her.
“It’s not that I don’t believe you,” Charles told her stiffly when she finally stopped laughing. “It’s just that I want to be sure before we put it up there. We don’t want unfounded superstition being put into the scouts’ heads. They have enough of that.”
“I understand and agree, and if I had time, I’d find some of the men who were there to corroborate my story.”
He held up a hand. “No need. If you say it happened, I believe you. I’m sure you know the difference between myth and fact.”
She took the piece of paper and a quill already dipped in ink. She set the paper on one of the small tables and bent to sketch what she’d seen. Several minutes later, she lifted her hand and rubbed her aching wrist. She cocked her head and read over what she had written. There wasn’t a lot there, and she wished there had been more to put in the description but the encounter had been brief. There would have been too much supposition in if she had added any more. Perhaps someone else would be able to fill in the details.
When she was finished, Charles tacked it onto the board.
“What’s this?” a voice asked at their backs.
Shea went ramrod straight, cursing her luck. Charles and Clark spun and snapped to immediate attention, turning from the friendly men she knew into hard faced soldiers. Shea was slower to turn.
Darius squinted past them at the board. Wanting a better look, he came closer, pausing by Shea as he straightened one flyer to read it.
“It’s a record of beast encounters,” an old man said, stepping into the shade. His back was slightly hunched with age, and his white hair was braided into a tail at the back of his neck. Despite the seeming frailty of his body, the strength of his personality along with a shrewd intelligence blazed from his eyes. “From what my men have told me, when scouts return after an encounter with a beast they record its strengths and weaknesses so others may know them.”
Darius had turned to listen, but now he turned back to the board with a renewed purpose. “That’s brilliant.”
“It works too,” the old man said. “Haven’t you wondered why there was drop in Horse Clan casualties over the past few weeks?”
“This is why?”
The old man nodded. “It hasn’t spread to the other clans yet, but it seems to be working.”
Darius turned to the three of them. Unlike the last time she had seen him, there was only a small spark of the continual good humor he seemed to carry. Today, he seemed tired and worn. Worry had carved deep grooves around his eyes and mouth, though he tried to insert a bit of his old self into his voice when he asked. “Whose idea was this?”
“It was his, sir.”
Shea wanted to punch Clark when he nodded at her. Suddenly, she found herself the focus of the two men. One of whom had met her before, as a woman, and the other of which seemed much sharper than she would have liked.
“Only the beginning, sir,” Shea said quickly deepening her voice as much as she dared without drawing attention to herself. She needed to get out from under their notice. “The rest of it was his.”
Clark puffed up and stood straighter, if that was possible, as Darius’s focus swung to him.
Shea stepped back, putting a little more space between her and them. The old man’s eyes flicked to her, and she froze as he studied her with a thoughtful expression. She dropped her eyes quickly from his, staring at the ground before peeking back up. She sighed in relief to find he was no longer watching her, giving his shrewd attention to the board behind her instead.
Clark was explaining the concept behind the board.
Both Clark and Charles seemed intent on impressing Darius, taking turns in the explanation while Darius looked on thoughtfully.
Now would be the time to tell someone what she’d heard. Darius was pretty high up in the army, and she didn’t have to worry about involving him in something dangerous. He probably even knew the missing person.
Telling him would expose her to scrutiny though, which was dangerous given her secrets. Right now people thought she was a boy, but that was mostly because they were used to thinking of her that way. Revealing a plot of this magnitude would automatically guarantee Darius would take a closer look at her.
It might be selfish, but Shea didn’t want to take the chance. She’d keep her council for now and see if there was a better time to advance what she’d learn. She just had to hope her silence didn’t cost somebody their life.
“And this all sprang from your journal?” Darius asked her.
All eyes swung to her.
“Ah, yes.”
“That’s impressive.”
Her tongue felt thick as she said, “Thank you.”
“Very impressive,” Darius said, idly looking over the board one last time. He turned to leave. “I won’t keep you from your assignments. I pray you meet with success on your journey.”
Clark and Charles made the proper parting remarks, and Shea hurried to join in as Darius and his companion departed. They moved slowly, meandering down the road deep in conversation. Darius shortened his stride, keeping to his friend’s pace as he bent his head toward the man, listening intently.
“Can you believe Darius Lightheart, the Warlord’s right hand man, complemented our project? Even the head of Horse Clan knows about us.” Clark slapped Shea on the shoulder, almost bouncing on his toes from excitement. Even Charles looked slightly amazed, his eyes wide and disbelieving as if this had been some wild hallucination.
“Who knows what might happen after this? We’ve impressed a General. He said it was amazing! I need to tell my team.” Clark started off before turning around to walk backwards and giving them a “who could have believed it” expression.
For a moment, Shea forgot her concerns and smiled at Clark’s antics. He looked his age as he buzzed from the excitement of meeting one of his heroes. She was glad for him.
Charles had turned to study the board. “I think we need another board and maybe a couple more journals. I can make this bigger and better. Maybe we can give those journals to a person from every scout team. What do you think?”
He didn’t wait for her response, moving as fast as his limp would let him, presumably to track down pens and journals, leaving Shea standing there by herself.
She looked over her shoulder at the board, letting herself feel a small sense of accomplishment. Clark and Charles deserved the credit, but it made her feel good that she’d had some part in this no matter how small. Perhaps her time here had done some good after all. A little worried that this might make their jobs easier in conquering the Broken Lands, but for the most part she felt good.
She stepped out of the canopy’s shade. This excursion had taken time that she didn’t really have, and though it had been a welcome distraction, she needed to figure out what she was going to do about the conversation she’d overheard. Until then, she needed to get back to work on preparing to be sent back out.
Procuring supplies didn’t take long, and soon, she joined her party back at the corrals to prepare for their journey.